Haiti

MADDY CONRAD. c:

**//Haiti. //** || History Timeline || Historical Enemies || The Haitian flag is an adaptation of the French national flag. The blue stripe represents the union of black Haitians and mulatto Haitians, who are represented by the red stripe.
 * History Summary
 * Flag & it's signifigance[[image:haiti-flag.gif]]

The current Haitian flag was adopted on February 26, 1986. Haiti declared independence from France on January 1, 1804. The Haitian flag was originally blue and red vertical stripes, which was an adaptation of the French national flag. The white stripe of the French flag was omitted because it represented white colonial oppression. The vertical stripes were changed to horizontal stripes in the mid-19th century.

[] || Map of your country || Historical Conflicts || The people of Haiti are 95% African, and 5% Mulatto. The Language of Haiti is 'Creole', or French. 80% of Haitians are Catholic, leaving 16% Protestant.
 * Culture/traditions

Haitian holidays include Independence Day (January 1); the Anniversary of revolutionary hero Jean-Jacques Dessalines' death (October 17); the Anniversary of the Battle of Vertières (November 18); and the landing of Columbus on Hispaniola in 1492, commemorated on December 5. Other holidays include Ancestors' Day (January 2), Carnival (the three days before Ash Wednesday, in February), Pan American Day (April 14), Labor Day (May 1), Flag Day (May 18), and New Year's Eve (December 31).

Read more: [|Haitians - Introduction, Location, Language, Folklore, Religion, Major holidays, Rites of passage, Relationships, Living conditions] [] || Traditional Costumes "Generally, people from Haiti dress in whatever they can find. Every city has a part of the city designated as a "pepe" which is just piles of used clothing on the sides of the roads. Haitian's will rummage through these piles of used items and find something they like and buy it. A lot of the clothing is shipped into haiti as foreign aid from developed countries. Many Haitians actually dress surprisingly well for being so poor. They look cleaner and more dressed up going to church on sunday than many people I know in the states." Source: a man who lived in Haiti of two years.

In general, the Haitians are well-dressed people, with American style clothes. A lot them wear second hand clothes called "pepe", that are sold in the street. Those clothes come from the U.S. and Miami warehouses. The Haitians are very clean, so they are constantly washing their clothes. Also there exists taylors and even someone with a poor background will get their clothes tailored.All of the school kids all have school uniforms, which look wonderful , but are expensive for families. For schools it's a source of income. Sundays, it's fun to see little girls wearing beautiful dresses , with ribbons in their hair.. -answers.com

The traditional folk costume for men is a hand-embroidered shirt made of cotton, linen, or denim fabric. Women traditionally wear an embroidered short-sleeved blouse, a colorful skirt, and a scarf wrapped around their hair. || Traditional foods The island of Hispaniola is home to the Dominican Republic and Haiti in the Caribbean. While the cuisine of the Dominican Republic is Spanish-influenced, Haiti’s fare is distinctly French and Creole based, giving Haitian food a unique flavor from other Caribbean nations. -foodspring.com

Although the average Haitian’s diet uses mostly rice, corn, beans, yams or millet, more extravagant fare is available, particularly in the capital of Port-au-Prince, such as French cheeses, lobster and frog legs. Tropical fruits are native to the island including mango, coconut, guava, avocado and pineapples. Popular beverages are made with these fresh fruit and Juna is also well liked, a local orange squash drink. || []